Supplementary Material for

The importance of structural complexity in coral reef ecosystems

N. A. J. Graham and K. L. Nash

File includes:

Tables S1-S4

References

Table S1 Correlation coefficients of percent algal cover (turf & macroalgae) against structural complexity for individual source studies. Significant correlations are displayed in bold.

Study / n* / Location / Spearman Rank Correlation (rs) / P
Dulvy et al. 2002 / 5 / Fiji / 0.60 / NS
Garpe & Ohman2003 / 5 / Tanzania / -0.10 / NS
Howard et al. 2009 / 3 / Hawaii / n/a / n/a
Lawson et al. 1999 / 3 / Barbados / n/a / n/a
McClanahan & Shafir1990 / 6 / Kenya / -0.60 / NS
McClanahan 1999 / 3 / Belize / n/a / n/a

Footnote: *Number of sites used to calculate correlation coefficient.

Table S2 Correlation coefficients of percent live coral cover and branching coral cover against structural complexity for individual source studies. Significant correlations are displayed in bold.

Study / n* / Location / Spearman Rank Correlation (rs) / P
Coral Cover
Bergman et al. 2000 / 11 / Zanzibar / 0.75 / 0.008
Dulvy et al. 2002 / 5 / Fiji / -0.20 / NS
Friedlander et al. 2003 / 4 / Hawaii / n/a / n/a
Garpe & Ohman 2003 / 11 / Tanzania / 0.28 / NS
Grigg 1994 / 8 / Hawaii / 0.32 / NS
Idjadi & Edmunds 2006 / 14 / US Virgin Islands / 0.39 / NS
Kamukuru et al. 2004 / 3 / Tanzania / n/a / n/a
Mangi & Roberts 2007 / 10 / Kenya / 0.79 / 0.007
McClanahan & Shafir 1990 / 5 / Kenya / 0.90¥ / 0.037
McClanahan 1999 / 3 / Belize / n/a / n/a
Miller & Gerstner 2002 / 1 / Navassa (USA) / n/a / n/a
Mumby & Wabnitz 2002 / 3 / Belize / n/a / n/a
Wolff et al. 1999 / 2 / US Virgin Islands / n/a / n/a
Branching Cover
Bergman et al. 2000 / 11 / Zanzibar / 0.69 / 0.019
Friedlander et al. 2003 / 4 / Hawaii / 0.40 / NS
Garpe & Ohman 2003 / 11 / Tanzania / 0.16 / NS

Footnote:*Number of sites used to calculate correlation coefficient.¥Relationship between structural complexity and fish variables calculated using data incorporated in our analysis.Relationship between variables also presented in source publication. Correlation in McClanahan & Shafir (1990) was slightly weaker than the relationship calculated in our study and presented here. Our analysis is based on fewer sites to prevent overlap with data from Mangi & Roberts (2007), and untransformed coral cover data were used.

Table S3 Correlation coefficients of urchin density (10m-2) against structural complexity for individual source studies. Significant correlations are displayed in bold.

Study / n* / Location / Spearman Rank Correlation (rs) / P
Dulvy et al. 2002 / 5 / Fiji / 0.15 / NS
Mangi & Roberts 2007 / 10 / Kenya / 0.00 / NS
McClanahan & Shafir 1990 / 5 / Kenya / -0.70¥ / NS

Footnote: *Number of sites used to calculate correlation coefficient. ¥Relationship between structural complexity and fish variables calculated using data incorporated in our analysis. Relationship between variables also presented in source publication. Correlation in McClanahan & Shafir (1990) was significant; the relationship calculated in our study and presented here, is based on fewer sites to prevent overlap with data from Mangi & Roberts (2007).

Table S4 Correlation coefficients of fish density (no. m-2) and fish biomass (kg/ha) against structural complexity within individual studies. Significant correlations are displayed in bold.

Study / n* / Location / Spearman Rank Correlation (rs) / P
Fish Density
Friedlander et al. 2003† / 4 / Hawaii / n/a / n/a
Garpe & Ohman 2003‡ / 11 / Tanzania / 0.25 / NS
Grigg 1994†? / 12 / Hawaii / 0.89 / <0.001
Luckhurst & Luckhurst 1978• / 8 / Bonaire & Curacao / 0.90¥ / 0.002
Mangi & Roberts 2007†? / 10 / Kenya / -0.02 / NS
McClanahan & Shafir 1990†? / 5 / Kenya / 1 / <0.001
Miller & Gerstner 2002†? / 1 / Navassa(USA) / n/a / n/a
Risk 1972• / 1 / US Virgin Islands / n/a / n/a
Fish Biomass
Cinner et al. 2009†# / 16 / Indian Ocean / 0.59¥ / 0.016
Dulvy et al. 2002†§ / 5 / Fiji / 0.3 / NS
Freidlander et al. 2007†? / 22 / Hawaii / 0.71¥ / <0.001
Grigg 1994†? / 12 / Hawaii / 0.81¥ / 0.001
Miller & Gerstner 2002†? / 1 / Navassa(USA) / n/a / n/a

Footnote: *Number of sites used to calculate correlation coefficient. †Diurnally active, non-cryptic species. ‡Including some cryptic species. •Cryptic and non-cryptic site attached species. #Fish greater than 10cm in length. §Fish greater than 8cm in length. ¥Relationship between structural complexity and fish variables calculated using data incorporated in our analysis. Relationship between variables also presentedin source publication. Data sourced from Luckhurst & Luckhurst (1978) was analysed in a different manner toour study where we averaged within depths, therefore the magnitude of the significant positive correlation between structural complexity and fish density is greater to that presented in source publication. Significant positive correlation between fish biomass and structural complexity presented in Grigg (1994) is slightly weaker than the relationship calculated in our study and presented here. Our analysis was based on fewer sites to prevent overlap with data from Friedlander et al. (2007).

References

Literature examining the role of structural complexity in coral reef ecosystems, categorised into the classifications used in the qualitative analysis according to the focus of the original paper. Note that the number of papers in the categories below may vary compared to the number reported in the qualitative and quantitative analyses in the main paper for two reasons: 1) Some papers assessed multiple aspects of the reef community or multiple ecosystem services, and are thus in the ‘other’ category below and 2) In some of the papers the relationship we extracted (e.g., structural complexity against algal cover) was not the focus of the original paper, however we were able to extract the data to analyse the data for this purpose. Articles in bold were used in the quantitative analyses.

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